Great Comet of 1402

Great Comet of 1402
The comet in the Augsburg Book of Miracles, ca 1552
Discovery
Discovery date8 February 1402
Designations
C/1402 D1
Orbital characteristics[1]
Epoch21 March 1402
Perihelion0.38 AU
Eccentricity1.0 (assumed)
Inclination55°
126°
Argument of
periapsis
91°
Last perihelion21 March 1402
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
0–1[2]

The Great Comet of 1402 was a bright comet seen between February and April 1402. The comet was reported to be visible in daylight for 8 days, the longest recorded for a comet.[2] The comet is mentioned in many chronicles, with most of them placing the comet in 1402, but it has been suggested that comets mentioned to be seen in 1401 and 1403 are in reality accounts with chronological errors of the great comet of 1402.[3]

  1. ^ "Small-Body Database Lookup: C/1402 D1". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Kronk, Gary W. (1999). Cometography: 1800-1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 260–263. ISBN 978-0-521-58504-0.
  3. ^ Helmolt, Dr (1892). "Der Comet vom Frühjahr 1402". Astronomische Nachrichten. 129 (20): 301–306. doi:10.1002/asna.18921292003.